Monday, August 12, 2013

During the past decade, China has spent billions on building
some of the largest and most modern airports in the world. With so many new
stunning airports, one would think that they would be the envy of the world.
Here is the catch; Chinese airports are renowned for having horrible
punctuality. In fact, not a single Chinese airport managed to get even half of
its flights to leave on time. Even worse, Beijing’s Capital Airport had an
anemic 18% of its flights leave on time last month, making it the worst major
airport for punctuality in the world.

What do these constant delays do to the psyche of the
Chinese travelers? Well, it enrages them beyond belief. Violent attacks have
erupted at airports across China. Angry passengers are taking out their frustrations
on hapless airport and airline staff members. Back in July, 30 angry passengers
broke through security and stormed the runway at Nanchang airport after being
delayed for 7 hours. This summer alone has seen at least eight large protests
at departure gates throughout China. There have been numerous reports of random
attacks on flight attendants. One such attack involved a man assaulting a
stewardess on a delayed flight while other passengers watched and even
applauded him while he hit her.

Protesters battle with police and airline personnel at a Chinese airport

This is all disturbing news on both fronts. The fact that
these flight delays are so rampant is a great cause for concern for anyone
traveling in China. On the other side, it is also very disturbing that airline
workers are subject to violent attacks for something they have no control over.

As China continues to boost its airport infrastructure, the
world will be watching to see if they can improve on punctuality and
efficiency. This is certainly a cause for concern for Western businessmen who
frequent China on business. They will no doubt be keeping an eye on this issue
in the next year and hoping that the situation improves.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

In a strange story, an American Airlines flight attendant
has been accused of smuggling pet rats onto an international flight last year.
Yes, you read that correctly- smuggling rats!

In February 2012, an American Airlines pilot claimed that
Louann Giambattista was hiding pet rats inside her underwear and pantyhose on
an international flight. Yikes! In a separate incident on that same day,
another American Airlines colleague of Ms. Giambattista claims to have
witnessed her feeding a pet rat a bread roll on a flight to Miami.

Ms. Giambattista was questioned and searched upon landing
but no rats were ever found. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were
notified and she is now subject to searches by federal agents every time she
flies. She is now suing the airline and seeking damages for “debilitating
anxiety” caused by the ordeal.

It is hard to imagine that
two separate colleagues on separate flights would both make up the same lie
about Ms. Giambattista. But I am not here to make that judgment. As I said,
strange story indeed.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Amidst the recent string of protests of Egyptian president
Mohamed Morsi, the U.S. has issued the strongest travel warnings for Egypt
since the 2011 revolution. The White House has ordered all non-emergency
diplomatic staff to leave the country.

At least 7 people have been killed during the clashes, with
hundreds more reported injured. One of the casualties was a 21 year old
American student named Andrew Pochter. Pochter was working for a U.S. charity
teaching English to children. He was stabbed to death in Alexandria while
taking pictures of the clashes.

This is an especially dangerous time for journalists, as one
Egyptian journalist died in a bomb attack, along with many other journalists
who have been beaten and robbed. A Dutch journalist was reportedly raped while
covering the protests.
﻿﻿

Protesters fill the streets of Cairo

Protesters are threatening to march Tuesday evening on
Cairo’s presidential palace if Morsi does not step down by then. With the
possibility of more violent clashes, the government is highly encouraging all
foreign nationals to leave Egypt immediately.

Friday, June 14, 2013

All of our Game of Thrones fans please stand up! The wildly
popular HBO series just wrapped up its third season with a bang. If you are
like us, the next nine months or more without our beloved show will be a
challenge!

Not to worry, we have some good news for you die-hard fans.
Did you know that there are recently launched “Game of Thrones tours” which
tour the cities of Dubrovnik, Croatia and Belfast, Northern Ireland? These two
marvelous cities serve as settings for fictional locales depicted in the series.

The medieval walled city of Dubrovnik is one of the jewels
of Croatia, sitting on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It also serves as the
official setting of King’s Landing in the Game of Thrones. A guided tour with a
GOT expert will take you around the city to show you some of the settings from
the show. Highlights of the three hour GOT tour include the ancient city walls
and the Lovrijenac Fortress (the site of many battle scenes on the show).

Dubrovnik, Croatia

The Belfast tour is even more epic, lasting nine hours and
taking guests to sites all around Northern Ireland. The nine hour tour takes
visitors to a number of sites where famous scenes have been filmed. The tour
also takes visitors to sites not featured in the show that are very iconic
parts of Belfast.

As always, the POTHOS travel team
is always here for any travel assistance. It’s not too late to book your summer
trip to see some breath taking views of these two famous cities!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Fees, fees, and more fees! Frontier Airlines is at it again.
In an effort to become an “ultra low cost carrier”, Frontier Airlines is set to
introduce new fees yet again.

To kick things off, Frontier has announced that it will
start charging customers who book their tickets through third-party sites a $25
to $100 fee for carry-on bags, excluding certain members of its frequent flier
program. Yes, you read that correctly. This fee is for carry-on bags. This is
an effort to get more people to check their bags to free up overhead space on
their planes. The $25 price is for passengers who check into their flights on
the airline website. For those who check in at the airport, the fee can be as
high as $100. The start date for this carry-on fee has yet to be announced, but
should be announced at some point this spring. If that wasn’t enough, Frontier
has also announced it will start charging $1.99 for what was once known as a
complimentary drink.

As miniscule as it may sound to charge $1.99 for a drink, it
is frightening to see the trend of adding so many fees for basic services. Europe’s
leading no-frills airline, Ryanair, has already brought up the idea of installing
coin-operated toilets and standing seats. That is an extreme case, but it goes
to show you the mind-set of the airlines and how they are trying to increase
ancillary revenue through increased fees. Don’t be surprised to see other
airlines study this move by Frontier and follow suit.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

According to a recent report in the Las Vegas Sun, taxi
drivers in Las Vegas overcharged passengers to the tune of almost $15 million
last year. A legislative audit discovered that of the 6.6 million rides to and
from McCarran Airport, an estimated 23% were “deceptively long”. This deceptive
tactic is said to increase the average cab fare by about $10.

The report calls on the Taxicab Authority to take
“preventative measures” in order to protect travelers. According to the Las
Vegas tourism website, the average taxi fare from the airport to a hotel on the
Strip is $11. Anything substantially higher than that may mean you are being
taken advantage of.

This is something to keep note of for your next trip to Sin
City. Of course, this should not stop anyone from enjoying their trip in Vegas,
but should serve as a warning to keep an eye out for it.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

This past Sunday marked the
beginning of furloughs at U.S. airports. The furloughs will reduce staff by
around 10% across the country. The FAA is warning that some airports may see
delays of up to 3 1/2 hours due to these budget cuts. Monday already saw delays
across the country, with New York’s La Guardia and JFK airports reporting
delays of more than an hour.

The FAA has been mandated to
furlough all of its 47,000 employees through the end of September, in order to
help with the $637 million the agency must cut from its annual budget. Nearly
15,000 of those employees are air traffic controllers. With nearly 10% of the
controllers scheduled to be off daily, the FAA has no choice but to space
planes farther apart in order to safely manage air traffic. Transportation
officials have questioned the need to furlough so many controllers, in contrast
to the Transportation Security Administration avoiding furloughs.

If Monday’s pattern persists,
fliers can expect delays at many of the major airports. The airlines are doing
their best to adjust to these conditions in order to keep operations running
safely and efficiently, but there is only so much they can do to limit the
delays. It is difficult to judge the full impact of these furloughs, as there
are other contributing factors for some delays, in particular the recent string
of bad weather in some parts of the country. With that being said, it is safe
to say that these cuts will have a profound effect on fliers from now until the
end of September.